Electric-railway system.



No. 674,I|0. Patented May I4, I90I. s. w. rucKIER. ELECTRIC, RAILWAYSYSTEM. (Appn con med re'b 7 1901 3 Sheets-Sheet l.

(No Modal.)

No. 674,0. Patented May i4, I90l- B. W. TUCKER.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY SYSTEM.

(Application filed Feb. '1, 1901.)

(No Model.)v 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

' |NVENT0R e/ya//zUzWIac/ier Il t ATTORNEY No. 674,IIO. Patented May I4,I90l.

B. W. TUIIKEI.

' ELECTRIC RAILWAY SYSTEM.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(Application led Feb. 7, 1901.) (un Model.)

wlTlNEssEs: |NVENTOR m e/g/allzZ/z/laief BY O d@ u 'l j ATTORNEY www(UNIT-ED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN W. TUCKER, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.`

ELECTRIC-RAILWAY SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 674,110, dated May 14,1901.

Application filed February 7, 1901. Serial No'. 46,288. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern,.-

Beit known that I, BENJAMIN W. TUCKER, a citizen of the United States,anda resident of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric-RailwaySystems, of which the following is a specication.

This invention relates to certain improvements in electric tractionsystems, and more particularly to improvements in electric rails. Theobject of the invention is to provide an eiiicient electric rail adaptedto embody within itself the supply and return conductors of the railwaysystem, so that the car-motor receives its power current from theelectric rail, and the return from the car-motor is also made throughthe electric rail, thereby avoiding the employment of the track-railsfor the return, with the objectionable bonding incident to such use.

The invention consists in certain novel featicularly pointed out. anddescribed herein-` after.

tions within the spirit and scopeof my invention,`Figure l is a planview of a railroad track provided with one form of my electric rail.

contacts, and car-motor being shown diagrammatically. sectional view ofthe electric rail shown in Fig. 2. Fig-4 is a perspective view showing apart of a railroad-track .provided withanother form of electric railwithin the spirit and scope of my invention, the yarrangement ofcar-magnet and conduits being shown diagrammatically.` Fig. l5 is a'cross-sectional view through thetrack and electric rail of Fig. 4. Fig.6 is an enlarged sectional view of the electric rail shown in Fig. 5.Fig. 7 is a top plan View of another'form of electric rail, and'Fig. 8is a cross-sectional view of the rail shown in Fig. 7.

The electric vrail is secured, preferably, to the track-supports, suchas cross-ties a, to which the track-rails b are secured. The electricrail is formed of a body composed 0f Referring to the accompanyingdrawings, which show several (among oth ers) construc- Fig. 2 is across-sectional view through the track and electric rail, thepower-genera i tor of the system, the car-magnet, the car-l Fig. 3 is an'enlarged crossnon-conducting and non-magnetizable material havingtwo'parallel separate top conduits c and c', closed and sealed,respectively, by

exposed sectional normally dead conductors d and CZ', located over thetwo separatemovable line-wires e and e', respectively,located in saidconduits and electrically connected, respectively, with the positive andnegative poles of the power-generator P G of the system and forming thesupply and return conl ductors embedded within the electric rail.

` In Fig. 2 acar-'magnetf is shown of a sufiicient size and power toelevate both linewires'e and e into electrical contact with theirrespective exposed conductors'd and d-r Where such' a sinl riescontactsf andf2, traveling in engage `ment with the exposed conductors dand d', respectively, so that a contact f conducts the posedeonductord', from which it passesl to the return line-wire ef. V

vpower-current from ,the exposed conductor d, from which thepower-current is conveyed to] 'the car-motor C M, the return therefrombelingmade through the contact f2 to 'the exi- If desired, a doublemagnet/can be'carried l kby the canas shown in Fig.`4, with its poleslocated over the exposed conductors d and d',

respectively. K

Any suitable arrangement of car magnet or magnets and of car-contacts.can be provided. Separate'rollers or trolley-wheels can be provided,arranged in different transverse planes, to travel on the exposedconductors of the electric rail, and, if desired, separatemag-` nets canbe provided for the separate exposed conductors, and said magnets can belocated in different transverse planes, so that a live will be alwaysopposite a deadv section of the other exposed conductor.

The electric rail shown on the first sheet of the drawings is composedof a number of longitudinal sections of proper insulating material-such,for instance, as wood. Two wooden sections or stringers c2 and cs areprovided in which the topk grooves are formed to receive the respectiveline-wires. Preferably porce- IOO sys

lain or ceramic troughs O, in sections of convenient length, will beinserted into and somewhat snugly fit the aforesaid top grooves todirectly receive the line-wires, said troughs being open at the top andof substantially U shape, as illustrated. Each wooden section or body isclosed at the top by its exposed sectional conductor, which ispreferably in the form of an inverted-U-shaped channel-bar, fitting downon the top of the rail-body and extending down at the sides thereof.These bars are formed in short sections thoroughly insulated from eachother by a suitable insulating material interposed between their ends.The two rail-bodies thus described, with their conduits, line-wires, andexposed conductors, are preferably parallel and laid side by side andsecured together. The two rail-bodies are separated from each other andare clamped to the interposed insulating-strip c4, which is alsopreferably of wood and usually forms the central section of thecompleted electric rail and insulates the exposed sectional conductorsfrom each other and extends from the cross-ties to the top surface oftheelectric rail, as shown in Fig. 3.

This central section c1 is usually recessed or rabbeted alongits sidesto receive the inclined depending iianges of the two exposed conductors, so as to interlock with said exposed conductors d d' and holdthe same down in place when the parts of the electric rail are lockedtogether, and is also so formed as to receive a portion of thedownthrust of the exposed conductors. At the outer sides of the saidrail-bodies c2 and c3 I also locate insulating vlongitudinal strips,preferably of wood, c5 and c6. These strips are rabbeted or recessed attheir inner faces to lit and receive the outer flanges of the exposedconductors and to interlock therewith and hold said conductors down onthe rail. If desired, the said side strips c5 and c6 can be faced byangle-bars c7, having outturned bottom flanges resting on the cross-tiesand receiving the heads of the spikes cs, by which the electric rail canbe secured in position on the cross-ties.

I show the longitudinal sections of the electric rail rigidly clampedtogether by crossbolts o, passed through the parts and entirelyinsulated from the line-wires and exposed conductors and having end nutsat the outer faces of the angle-bars.

The line-wires e and e are composed of magnetizable material, and forthis purpose I have found it advantageous to employ stiff iron wires. Itis obvious to those skilled in the art that as the car-magnet passesalong these iron wires will be drawn up into electrical engagement withthe sections of their respective exposed sectional conductorssuccessively and that all exposed portions of the electric rail will bedead electrically except the exposed sections immediately under themotor-car and covered and protected thereby.

The top face of the electric rail is preferably rounded transversely,about as shown.

The electric two-wire rail shown on the second sheet of the drawingsillustrates the grooved rail-bodies divided centrally and longitudinallythrough the wire-conduit. The lower portion of each body is formed witha longitudinal passage 7i, in which one or more main feed-wires h can beplaced. Suitable lateral feed branches connect the feeders and theline-wires at intervals. The two sections of each rail-body are shownset in and held together at the bottom by channel-bars h2. Thelongitudinal sections of the rail are otherwise formed and clampedtogether, as hereinbefore described.

If desired, the sectional exposed cond uctors can have lateral edgeflanges cl3, projecting into the side and intermediate pieces, and thusdistributing the downthrust on the various sections of the rail.

The electric rail shown in Figs. 7 and 8 consists of two non-conductingand non-magnetizable rail-bodiesvli, arranged parallel and closetogether on the cross-ties. Each railbody contains a movable line-wire,as heretofore described, one of which forms the positive and the otherthe return connection. The rail-bodies also have the exposed sectionalconductors, as before described. Each exposed conductor fits the top ofthe railbody and depends at the sides thereof and differs in form andshape from those heretofore described. 'lhe rail-bodies are locked downto the cross-ties, and the exposed conductors are locked to therail-bodies by suitable means. Forinstance, I show rail chairs or bracesF at intervals along the same and secured to the cross-ties withwedge-shaped clamping and insulating blocks F', interposed between theirupright portions and the outer sides of the double electric rail. Whenthe chairs are spiked down, their upper portions thus cause thewedge-blocks to grip the railbodies and exposed conductor. Suitablespacing means are interposed between the railbodies, as in theconstructions heretofore described, in the formation of the completetwowire electric rail. For instance, I show the interposed double chairsF2 spiked down to the cross-ties between the two rail-bodies of thecomplete rail and having the insulating blocks F between the uprightportions thereof and the inner faces of the railbodies and their exposedconductors and locking the same, as described in connection with chairsF. The two parallel closely-arranged exposed conductors are thusseparated by the necessary open space which can be filled withinsulating material. The longitudinal raised portions of the two exposedconductors can be utilized to hold the car-contacts against lateral playand to guide and con fine the saine to the conductors.

In all of the figures of the drawings the upper longitudinal grooves inthe rail-bodies are shown as having the non-conducting troughs C toreceive the line-wires, (or feeders and lines-wires, if preferred,) andWhile I prefer too IIO

the employment of the trough C, I do not wish to limit the invention totheir employment, since the rail-bodies are themselves non-conductingand may be formed of any suitable substance.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. An electric-rail structure comprising the parallel rail-bodies eachhaving a longitudinal groove or conduit in its upper portion, the opentop ceramic troughs in said grooves or conduits, and the supply andreturn conductors in said troughs, combined with the normally deadexposed sectional conductors for said bodies, said bodies havingdownwardly-divergin g side surfaces, and said sectional conductorshaving downwardly-diverg-- ing longitudinal edge flanges to encompassthe upper portions of said bodies; substantially as set forth.

2. An electric-rail structure comprising parallel rail-bodies eachhaving a longitudinal groove or cond uitin its upper portion, and thesupply and return conductors in said grooves or conduits, combined withthe normally dead exposed conductor sections capping said bodies andhaving downwardlyextending side or edge flanges inclosing the upperportions of said bodies, the central section c4 between the saidrail-bodies and binding against the inwardly-facing sides or flanges ofthe conductor-sections, strips of material extending longitudinallyalong the outer sides of said rail-bodies and conductor-sections, andmeans for holding all of said part-s together to form the railstructure, said central section and said side strips of material beingrabbeted to receive and take the downthrust of the depending sideflanges of said exposed conductor-sections; substantially as set forth.

3. An electric-rail structure comprising parallel rail-bodies eachhaving a longitudinal groove or conduit in its upper portion, and the-supply and return conductors in said grooves or conduits, combined withthe norm ally dead exposed sectional conductors for said bodies, n

said bodies having downwardly-diverging side surfaces, and saidsectional conductors or conduits, combined with the normally deadexposed conductorsections capping ,said bodies and havingdownwardly-extending sides or edge flanges inclosing the upper portionsof said bodies, means between the upper portions of the rail-bodies forbinding against the inwardly-facing sides or flanges of theconductor-sections, strips of material extending longitudinally alongthe outer sides of said conductor-sections, metal plates at the outerside of said strips, and means for holding all of said'parts together toform the rail structure; substantially as set forth.

5. An electric-rail structure comprising parallel rail-bodies eachhaving a longitudinal groove or conduit in its upper portion and eachcomprising the -two longitudinal stringers Whose joint is centrally andlongitudinally of the wire-conduit, and the supply and return conductorsin said grooves or conduits, combined with the normally dead exposedconductor-sections capping said bodies and having downwardly extendingYsides or edge anges inclosing the upper portions of said bodies, meansbetween the upper portions of the rail-bodies for binding against theinwardly-facing sides or flanges of -the conductor-sections, strips ofmaterial extending Vlongitudinally along the outer sides of saidconductor-sections, metal plates at the outer side of said strips, andmeans for holding all of said parts together to form the rail structure;substantially as set forth.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,this 2d day of February, A. D. 1901.

BENJAMIN w. TUCKER.

Witnesses:

OHAs. C. GILL, GUNDER GUNDERsoN.

